Two mortar rounds hit a neighborhood in southern Baghdad, killing three civilians just moments after gunmen strafed the area with random fire, police said. According to the AP, the mortars landed around 11:30 a.m., exploding in a house and another in a popular market in Dora, police said. Eleven others were wounded in the mortar attack.
This came one day after U.S. and Iraqi authorities released more than 200 prisoners in an ongoing bid to promote national unity. Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi said "We will continue the release of detainees until the last Iraqi prisoner is set free." "And this campaign won't stop at U.S. prisons but (will continue) to the prisons run by the interior and defense ministries."
